Under Secretary Burns is a former Ambassador to Jordan and a former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. (He later served as Ambassador to Russia, but I'm focusing on his Mideast expertise.) He's got some command of Arabic and a lot of experience in the region. (Full disclosure: when he was first going out to Jordan in 1998 I actually met and briefed him, with a group of others, a bit, and met him a couple of more times when he was at NEA; I won't claim we're friends, but I have dealt with him.) Looking at a list of Deputy Secretaries of State, I have to say he has more Mideast experience than any of his predecessors, which ought to be a good thing. In fact of them all, only Richard Armitage had real experience in the region, and that fairly late in his career. (I know him too, and once worked for him briefly, helping him start a newsletter when he was in private sector consulting. I'm not trying to name drop, but to flag my own potential pre-judgments and biases.)
Of course, the Deputy Secretary is at the service of the Secretary, and does not make policy himself or herself. But it will be useful to have someone with real experience of the region so well placed. I think. Even if I'm a week late in commenting.
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